After three weeks of inexplicable indecision, Prince Marence Nymeros Martell gathered his councillors to reveal to them that he intended to raise his banners against the foreign king, Daeron Targaryen, who had forced Sunspear to submit to him three years before almost to the day. There had been great unrest in the shadow city in those tense weeks, as the rest of Dorne rose up in arms against its oppressors, with a number of lords now gathering forces to assist in removing the last of the king’s garrisons still holding out in the Dornish strongholds they have taken. From the Sunset Sea to the Broken Arm, garrisons have been slaughtered or forced to surrender.

Still, Salt Shore holds out, and rumors fly that Ser Alyn Velaryon’s officers prepare to command his fleet to retake the Planky Town and lay siege to Sunspear. The Bright Banners hold Vaith and the Red Dunes, having put down two separate attempts by the smallfolk to rebel. Godsgrace and Yronwood also remain, the strongest and canniest garrisons of all. While news from beyond the red mountains has been sparse, it seems so far that King Daeron has been slow to respond, trusting that his cousin Ser Alyn would put matters to right; if there is any time to defeat the remaining king’s men, now is that time. Perhaps Prince Marence has been convinced of that.

What led to suh a turn? Some say it was news from Sandstone, that the old, blind Lord Ganos Qorgyle was talking of refusing to bend the knee to Sunspear when the rebellion succeeded. Other say it has to do with claims that in fact the fleet at Salt Shore has already put to sea and will soon be at Sunspear. Others still remark that the prince’s brother, Prince Rhodry, was loudly declaring that he would force his brother’s hand, and that this fact was carried to the prince’s ear by a lady of the court, Elysa Dayne, who convinced him to make a choice.

Whatever the cause, the facts are plain: Sunspear goes to war, raising the sun-and-spear banner. The shadow city rejoices, and the Lord Shariff and his men are busy reinforcing the city’s defenses while the king’s advisors begin to raise forces and supplies. Yet the news is not without its controversy: Ser Alyn Velaryon, and many of the king’s knights and officers, who were captured or trapped in Sunspear when the news of Tyrell’s death set the fires of rebellion alight, will be given safe passage to Salt Shore. The prince, chary of his honor, had refused to allow any harm to the men who had been protected by the ancient laws of guest right; and he has resolved this conflict by letting them go free, so that he might fight with a clear conscience.